Page 22 of Live Love Steal
“Iz.” Damn it. They were going to kill each other before I even got to the club. Showing disrespect like that was certain to get Bear riled up.
“For your information, I have a better job than that.”
He did. Basically, it was still escorting people around, but those people, one in particular, was now my boss’s boss. The rest was the boss’s family, and of that equation, the family took precedence.
A cushy job, if you ask me, because all of them could take care of themselves. Right down to the teenager.
“Let me guess… your job is eating food and grunting?”
I pressed my lips together because… damn, she nailed it.
Bear turned red. “I am not fat.”
“I didn’t say you were. You did.”
“Sketch, put a leash on her. Better yet. A muzzle.”
I cleared my throat. “Let’s just all be quiet, okay?” It was directed at the entire car.
Bear, however, wouldn’t listen. “You had time to fix her car, but not this one?”
“I had court.” I omitted telling him how long it took to get the parts on back order to replace the steering column. That would send him right over the edge again.
“Fuck. I forgot about that.” Bear looked around the car, then back at me. “You didn’t get him?”
I blew out a breath, then inhaled through my nose, counting just like Isobel taught me. I got two cycles done when Isobel broke her silence. This time, her tone was much softer. “It’s postponed.”
“How would you know that?”
Breathe in… out…
“We were trapped in an elevator, and he was late for the appointment. But his ex didn’t show either, so they moved it to tomorrow.”
“What she said,” I added.
Bear softened his tone. “Man, I’m sorry. You’ll get him. I know you will.” He stared out the front for a few moments, then ruined things.
“An elevator, huh? Bow-chicka-bow-chicka-bow...” He hummed a cheesy porn soundtrack.
I reached over and smacked him in the chest. “Knock it off. It wasn’t like that.”
He looked into the back seat. “Bullshit. You two were fucking like rabbits when Whoosh and I walked in. How much screaming did we miss?”
Isobel made a sound that was somewhere between a scream and a squeak. And her eyes shot daggers at me. Not Bear. I sent her a look of “WTF?” back.
“Don’t answer that,” she warned.
Her tone made me laugh. Sure, that pissed her off more. But damn. Bear would never believe three times. Not in that short of time. Or was it one long session broken up by snacks?
“You dog.” Bear chuckled, too. He glanced in the back. “Even riled up, she’s pretty. I can’t say I blame you much. But you still should’ve known better.”
What was there to say to that? I flipped my blinker and pulled into the short driveway that ended in a gate. The junkyard had a fence, manned gate, and the speck on it took note of Bear, me, and finally Isobel. His mouth opened to ask a question, but Bear cut him off.
“She’s escorted and off limits. Got it?”
The prospect nodded and waved us through.
“I miss having Smoke on the gate,” Bear mused.
